Mark Copani

Finding truth at the intersection of fantasy and reality in the veiled world of professional wrestling.

Royal Rumble (2005) was the eighteenth annual Royal Rumble PPV. It was presented by PlayStation and took place on January 30, 2005 at the Save Mart Center in Fresno, California and featured talent from both the Raw and SmackDown! brands. The main event was the annual 30-man Royal Rumble match, which featured wrestlers from both brands. The primary match on the Raw brand was Triple H versus Randy Orton for the World Heavyweight Championship. The primary match on the SmackDown! brand was a Triple Threat match for the WWE Championship between reigning champion John "Bradshaw" Layfield, Kurt Angle, and The Big Show.

The Great American Bash (2005) was a professional wrestling PPV that took place on July 24, 2005, at the HSBC Arena in Buffalo, New York. The event featured wrestlers and other talent that performed on the SmackDown! program. The main event was Batista defending the World Heavyweight Championship against John "Bradshaw" Layfield (JBL). One of the featured matches on the undercard was Rey Mysterio versus Eddie Guerrero while the other was Orlando Jordan versus Chris Benoit for the WWE United States Championship. The event grossed over $375,000 in ticket sales from an attendance of 8,000, and received about 233,000 pay-per-view buys, the same amount as the following year's event. The event was also available free of charge for Armed Forces members and their families.

Backlash (2005) was the seventh annual Backlash PPV. It took place on May 1, 2005 at the Verizon Wireless Arena in Manchester, New Hampshire and was presented by Namco's Tekken 5. The event starred talent from the Raw brand. In the main event, Batista defended the World Title in a singles match against Triple H. From the five scheduled bouts on the undercard, two received more promotion than the others. The first was a tag team match, in which Shawn Michaels and Hulk Hogan challenged Muhammad Hassan and Daivari. The other was a Last Man Standing match between Chris Benoit and Edge.

New Year's Revolution (2005) was the first annual New Year's Revolution PPV. It took place on January 9, 2005 at the Coliseo de Puerto Rico in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The main event was an Elimination Chamber match for the vacant World Heavyweight Championship between Triple H, Randy Orton, Batista, Edge, Chris Jericho, and Chris Benoit. Another primary match on the card was Muhammad Hassan versus Jerry Lawler.

Satirist Munya Chawawa immerses himself in US wrestling and MAGA politics, uncovering the links between Donald Trump and the world of body slams, spandex and the power of kayfabe.